It pervades our lives, infiltrates our food supply, changes our behavior, interferes with our brain and body function, and can ultimately lead to aches, pains, and disease, with early death as a side effect. Yet this subtle deceiver is featured at every party and every holiday, given as gifts to loved ones, and paraded before our eyes in an enticing panorama of tempting tastes. You guessed it-I’m talking about sugar. My recent articles in Meridian Magazine about the dangers of sugar struck a nerve. Researchers recently reported at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology that sugar induced a reaction in the brain of rats similar to the reaction of morphine and other drugs. This may be the first scientific evidence of what we have been suspecting for years-that sugar is addictive. When I reported this finding on my website, www.stangardnermd.com, I was flooded with hundreds of pleas for help to get off sugar addiction. In our recent Conference, Elder Robert D. Hales said the following [italics mine]: “Today I speak to all whose freedom to choose has been diminished by the effects of ill-advised choices that have led to excessive debt and addictions to food, drugs, pornography, and other patterns of thought and action that diminish one’s sense of self-worth. All of these excesses affect us individually and undermine our family relationships.” Even knowing the effects that sugar has on our bodies does not stop the cravings and the addicted behavior. One reader wrote: Please hurry, I need to get off the sugar roller coaster.and get healthy again.” Another: “I have always wanted to be free of my sugar addiction.It just feels like I (and my family) would have to be in a bubble to avoid all that sugar. I was in the store yesterday and passed by a big display of Easter candy. I just got through Valentines. Help!” We find sugar in almost all processed food. Processed food, for the most part, is all food placed in a can or a box. Sugar is even added to ketchup! Soda pop is one of the most pervasive and health-damaging sources of sugar in America . A recent article on MSN reported 3 Hard Truths about Pop: Hard truth No. 1: Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn’t mean it can’t lead to weight gain. Hard truth No. 2: Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need. Hard truth No. 3: There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet sodas their flavor. In order to understand the effects of sugar on our bodies, we need to first understand the normal metabolism of carbohydrates in our bodies. There is no known “minimum daily requirement” for carbohydrate ingestion into our bodies, like there is for proteins and fats. All carbohydrates eventually break down into glucose. However, simple carbs break down quickly, with immediate absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. Complex carbs, with their high fiber content, take more effort to digest, and release their sugar load more slowly. The glycemic index is a measurement of how quickly any food raises blood sugar levels. As the blood glucose, or sugar level, rises in the bloodstream, insulin is released from the beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin takes the glucose to insulin receptors on each cell in the body, so that glucose can enter the cell. On the average:
Glycogen is the storage form of glucose, which can be immediately released when the body needs more sugar. Most of the glucose is stored in muscles, and the rest is stored in the liver. Triglycerides are a specific type of fat (lipid) molecule that can be burned as energy in the body; however, they are not as easily accessible as glycogen. High insulin levels increase fat formation and storage, while inhibiting fat breakdown to be used as energy. This makes it easy to gain weight, and VERY difficult to lose weight. High insulin also enhances sodium (salt) reabsorption from the kidney, thus promoting water retention and hypertension. High insulin levels also stimulate certain ovarian hormones that result in elevations in free testosterone, with subsequent androgen effects. The possible harm that comes from the regular ingestion of sugar is lengthy! Here are some helps to triumph over sugar’s subtle seduction:
Since my first studies on the need for help with sugar addiction, I have been working to develop a training program to help people get off sugar. I received over 600 responses to my survey, almost all of them passionate and detailed, with heartrending pleas for help. As I and my staff worked to respond to your questions and concerns, we designed a program to help people get over sugar addictions, called the Sweet Freedom from Sugar Training Course. It has taken us literally hundreds of hours and many thousands of dollars to put this together. We have hired a videographer and produced valuable DVDs, paid for graphic designers, obtained sources for people to get materials, recipes, etc. In the survey, most people (average) said they would be willing to pay $24 a month for this 5-month program. But there were many who said they could not afford anything. I understand that, particularly in today’s economy. Give it time; and realize you are making important, lifelong changes. Perhaps soon you’ll be writing to me a message similar to this one: “I have known for some time that I am addicted to sugar. In September I cut out (for the most part) white refined flour and white refined sugar. I weigh every six weeks. Last time I weighed, I was down 20 pounds in 18 weeks. I look better, but more importantly, I feel better. This whole experience has made me want to learn more about sugar and its addictive nature.” May you be blessed with dynamic health and energy, free from harmful addictions to sugar. May you have sweet freedom! Dr. Stan Gardner No Comments | Post or read comments |